How the Parks and Recreation Facebook page portrayed its handiwork.
Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

I am not sure that Friday was a good day to dye hard.

In several parts of the US, freezing cold reigned. So the usual homage of dyeing your local fountain in your team's colors to celebrate the NFL playoffs brought with it some problems.

The folks at Kansas City's Parks and Recreation were undeterred. They didn't, however, have any experience of dyeing a frozen fountain red.

I know this because they said so on their Facebook page. But I'd really like you to focus on the Northland Fountain and what it evokes.

For myself, I see a bloodbath. Of course, I hope this isn't some symbolic portent of what might occur when the Chiefs take on the Colts on Saturday, but I fear that many being shown this image will wonder whether a slaughter might have occurred recently.

It's unknown precisely what sort of dye was used here. What seems clear, however, is that it didn't manage to spread itself evenly across the target terrain.

Some Facebook commenters didn't see the human blood that immediately struck me (and many others). They saw, variously: king crab legs, a bloody octopus, a sea monster rising out of the ocean, and a scene from "Fargo."

One, Mary Mahoney, was clear which particular scene from "Fargo" -- the one in which "Steve Buscemi is going through the wood chipper."

I feel sure that reading these pages are scientific experts who will be able to help Parks and Recreation rectify some of the troubling connotations surrounding this artistic expression. I believe the intention was to make the whole fountain red.

I believe the intention was to make everyone feel proud, rather than very slightly disturbed.

Another angle on the carnage displayed on Facebook.
Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

About the author

Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world.
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